Lincoln

Daniel Day-Lewis's performance as Abraham Lincoln is exquisite. The rest of Lincoln is pretty okay, and there are very few cheeseball Spielbergian moments. I suspect that lots of people will be bored to death by Lincoln. It's primarily a story about the passage of the 13th Amendment in Congress and all the behind-the-scenes bargains that had to be cut. It's a movie about politics as it really happens, which means it's mostly about a bunch of men talking. But political animals—people who care about politics even during non-presidential-election years—will feast on this movie's dedication to process and to the mundane moments that shape our history. (PAUL CONSTANT)